Asia Times

Even as several tracks of peace talks with the Taliban open up, Asia Times Online has learned that senior members of the Western-trained and financed Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police plan to defect with vast numbers of their colleagues to the militants once foreign forces start to leave the country. - Hamza Ameer and Ihsanullah Tipu Mehsud (Feb 3, '12)

The surprise decision to phrase out a combat role for US troops in Afghanistan by mid-2013 has drawn mixed reaction in Washington, with critics of the 11-year international occupation cheering and neo-cons and other hawks assessing that the strategy will open the door to Kabul for the Taliban. The announcement comes as a critical juncture on a number of fronts. - Jim Lobe (Feb 3, '12)

Washington, London and Paris are falling over themselves to assure the real international community that the "Arab-led drive to secure a peaceful end to the 10-month crackdown" in Syria at the United Nations is not seeking another mandate for bombing a la Libya. But BRICS members Russia and China see it for what it is: no less than a crude drive for regime change. - Pepe Escobar (Feb 3, '12)

North Korea reportedly is producing middle-range missiles for export for Iran's defense in the event of a Middle East war that would make the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan look like brush fires. Closer to home, Pyongyang has fired off a series of questions to South Korea that are not necessarily expected to be answered. - Donald Kirk (Feb 3, '12)

Squabbling among followers of late spiritual guru Acharya Rajneesh over a US$7.1 million land deal has escalated in the Indian courts, while visitors to the "sex to super-consciousness" guru's ashram are falling due to exorbitant pricing. The materialism on display seems far removed from the days of "free love" and transcendental meditation. - Sudha Ramachandran (Feb 3, '12)

Over seven decades after Joseph Stalin's Great Purge, his star is rising, particularly among younger Russians for whom the dictator is a symbol of strong and clean hands. Most Russians suspect the hands of everyone contending for political power to be hidden, weak and corrupt. Russians think they can grasp what Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's hands can do - and are loathe to trust the devils they don't know. - John Helmer (Feb 3, '12)

The deportation and arrest of foreign journalists in Japan has raised suspicions Tokyo is punishing foreigners critical of its response to the Fukushima nuclear crisis, with the apparently harsh interrogation, detention and deportation procedures at Narita Airport adding to the controversy. First-hand experience suggest the airport's immigration agency is acting as a law unto itself. - Christopher Johnson (Feb 3, '12)

The Caliphate's Soldiers: The Lashkar-e-Tayyeba's Long War by Wilson John With thousands of recruitment and training centers across Pakistan, funds pouring in from the Gulf and links from Nepal to Sri Lanka, Lashkar-e-Toiba has flourished since the Mumbai attacks of November 2008. Detailing LeT's growth into "the world's most powerful and resourceful terror consultancy firm" - including a Department of Martyrs - this book offers an excellent primer on LeT's global ambitions. - Surinder Kumar Sharma (Feb 3, '12)

Optimistic reports of positive change flow freely from Myanmar, as the president portrays himself as a leader who sincerely wants to improve citizens' livelihoods, alleviate poverty and include the oppressed opposition in the political process. But the West blindly supports the shallow democratic transition, and increasingly runs the rising risk of being on the wrong side of history. - Nancy Hudson-Rodd (Feb 3, '12)

PetroChina's estimated US$1 billion purchase of a stake in a Canadian shale-gas project sets the tone for Prime Minister Stephen Harper's visit to Beijing next week. China's urgent desire to exploit its own vast unconventional gas reserves dovetails nicely with Canada's technological know-how and willingness to do business. - Robert M Cutler

Mazar-e-Sharif residents are increasingly able to breathe fresh air and walk clean, tree-lined streets in the northern Afghan city as authorities force factories out of the center and ban old, high-emission vehicles - to the consternation of taxi drivers, factory owners and their workers. - Ahmad Ramin Delasa

Social networking giant Facebook has at last moved towards selling its shares to the public, seeking to raise a possible US$5 billion. The sale would propel 27-year-old co-founder Mark Zuckerberg to the top ranks of rich folk, with a $28 billion stake. Martin J Young surveys the week's developments in computing, science, gaming and gizmos.